Chapter Summaries

Shan Heyuan sought ways to improve his combat skills for the academy tournament and prepared a strategy combining talismans, formations, and Spirit Plants. After Shen Duheng returned close to the Nascent Soul stage, they began practicing together, and Shan Heyuan unveiled his elaborate setup in the combat hall.

• Jiang Zhi explained that Shan Heyuan's hesitation had caused his poor showing in their spar, and Shan decided to ask Shen Duheng for more demanding practice.
• Shan Heyuan consulted Zhong Shuran, rejected spending Spirit Stones on equipment, and considered using defensive tactics and Spirit Plants instead.
• Shan Heyuan bought seeds and cultivated more aggressive Spirit Plants while preparing for the tournament.
• Shen Duheng returned on the verge of reaching the Nascent Soul stage, and Shan asked him to spar without holding back.
• Shan Heyuan booked a combat hall and combined talismans, a trapping formation, and Spirit Plants into a fighting strategy.
• At the practice arena, Shan covered the floor with Golden Silk Dense Moss and arranged attacking, poisonous, and defensive Spirit Plants in rows.

Shan Heyuan trained with Shen Duheng, improved his combat rhythm, and won his first competition match with ease. Jiang Zhi also won after a hard-fought battle, and the friends turned their attention to the rounds ahead and the Spring Crystal prize.

• Shen Duheng repeatedly knocked Shan Heyuan down during sparring and corrected his noisy, poorly coordinated attack; Shan Heyuan fell forty-nine times and bruised his backside.
• Jiang Zhi teased Shan Heyuan about his injury, and Shan Heyuan admitted his sparring with Shen Duheng had improved his combat rhythm.
• Shan Heyuan defeated Xuan Lu by sending Ghost Bud Grass through his Law Artifacts to knock him down and tie him up, then exchanged Spiritual Power imprints with him.
• Shan Heyuan went to watch Jiang Zhi fight a sword cultivator, and Jiang Zhi won the close match through combat experience.
• Jiang Zhi reminded Shan Heyuan that he would need to win through the final round to claim the Spring Crystal.

Shan Heyuan watched tournament matches and learned that he would face Lin Ji in the second round. Though he told Jiang Zhi and Li Jian that the draw was all right, he trained intensely at home rather than give up.

• Shan Heyuan watched an Illusion Academy disciple defeat a sword cultivator and then saw Lin Ji smile at him.
• Jiang Zhi explained that Lin Ji was captain of the academy's Law Enforcement Team and that Hu Gu and Yan Liang served under him.
• The Planting Institute's disciples drew their second-round opponents, and Shan Heyuan was paired with Lin Ji.
• Jiang Zhi and Li Jian comforted Shan Heyuan by reminding him that Lin Ji fought gentlemanly and that a battle royale would follow the second round.
• Shan Heyuan returned home and cultivated intensely, unwilling to surrender before facing Lin Ji.

Shan Heyuan challenged Lin Ji in the grand competition but was defeated in two breaths by Lin Ji’s precisely controlled sword strike. After returning home, Shan Heyuan discussed his growing Dantian with Shen Duheng and asked to make another batch of Fertilizer Pills.

• Shan Heyuan entered his match against Lin Ji and quickly surrounded himself with fog, Law Artifacts, talismans, and Spirit Plants.
• Lin Ji cut through Shan Heyuan’s defenses with a single sword strike, and the judges declared Lin Ji the winner.
• Jiang Zhi and Li Jian encouraged Shan Heyuan after the match, and the big orange cat comforted him on the ride home.
• Shan Heyuan told Shen Duheng he could not accept the defeat, and Shen Duheng remarked on the Spirit Herbs in the courtyard.
• Shan Heyuan told Shen Duheng that his Dantian had grown to about the size of a water vat, then asked to make another batch of Fertilizer Pills.

Shan Heyuan fired a new batch of Fertilizer Pills in the countryside, then traded some of them for Core Formation-grade Spirit Plant seeds. Back at Sword Reverence Academy, Tong Liangji visited him and asked to see the pills, and Shan Heyuan offered him one.

• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng agreed to go into the countryside to fire Fertilizer Pills so the heat would not harm the Spirit Plants in the courtyard.
• Shan Heyuan took leave and spent the night using a Pill Furnace and Conflagration Talismans to fire the Fertilizer Pills.
• Fellow Daoist Jin arrived, recognized the Fertilizer Pills, and traded Shan Heyuan a Pure Lotus seed for ten pills; two other cultivators later traded Core Formation-grade seeds for seventeen more.
• Shan Heyuan returned to Sword Reverence Academy after his leave and worked through the tasks that had piled up in the Spirit Plant garden.
• Tong Liangji visited Shan Heyuan, asked to inspect his new Fertilizer Pills, and Shan Heyuan offered him one in return for his past help.

Tong Liangji praised Shan Heyuan’s Fertilizer Pills and invited him to lecture, then urged him to have one tested. The testing revealed a trace of Breathing Earth in the pill, leaving Shan Heyuan and the Alchemists astonished as they wondered whether his Chaos Spirit Root explained it.

• Tong Liangji examined Shan Heyuan’s Fertilizer Pill, praised his skill, and invited him to give a lecture on refining them.
• Tong Liangji told Shan Heyuan that the pill carried a trace of the Dao and suggested he have it tested.
• Shan Heyuan brought the Fertilizer Pill to Sword Reverence City’s testing center, where the Alchemists discovered its unusual structure and dense Spiritual Power.
• Senior Lan examined the pill and identified a trace of Breathing Earth, prompting the Alchemists to bring the results to Shan Heyuan.
• Shan Heyuan denied adding Breathing Earth and wondered whether his Chaos Spirit Root might have caused its presence.

After the scent of Breathing Earth in Shan Heyuan’s Fertilizer Pills drew unwanted attention, the Sword Reverence Academy recognized that his Spiritual Power carried the scent and promised to protect him. He returned home to find Shen Duheng had prepared a protective talisman belt for him.

• Alchemists questioned Shan Heyuan about Breathing Earth, and news of his Fertilizer Pills spread through Sword Reverence City.
• Tong Liangji apologized to Shan Heyuan and offered him a jade pendant that could withstand a Core Formation Stage strike.
• At the dean’s office, Shan Heyuan used Gentle Breeze on a Spirit Plant, revealing that his Spiritual Power carried the scent of Breathing Earth.
• Huai Liu concluded that Shan Heyuan’s Chaos Spirit Root had mutated and said the academy would protect him.
• After the academy’s support discouraged many would-be attackers, Shan Heyuan kept to a cautious routine between home and the academy.
• Shan Heyuan found Shen Duheng at home, where Shen had left him a protective talisman belt.

Shan Heyuan received a protective belt from Shen Duheng, then delivered a popular lecture on refining Fertilizer Pills at the Planting Institute. The chapter ended with Shen Duheng coming to pick him up after he spent the day answering disciples' questions.

• Shen Duheng gave Shan Heyuan a belt that could withstand a Nascent Soul Cultivator's blow and reveal his location, and Shan Heyuan promised to wear it.
• Shan Heyuan prepared to give a lecture at the Planting Institute after confirming that things were safe for the time being.
• Shan Heyuan taught a packed hall about the principles, types, and practical techniques of refining Fertilizer Pills, using a jade screen to display his material.
• The lecture drew more listeners as it went on, and the disciples applauded when Shan Heyuan finished speaking.
• Shan Heyuan stayed until evening to answer the disciples' questions, then left after Shen Duheng messaged that he was coming to pick him up.

Shan Heyuan’s popular lecture unexpectedly shaped the grand competition: his first opponent conceded, and dozens of disciples withdrew their challenges after thanking him for sharing his knowledge. Shan Heyuan remained uneasy about the sudden change as the free-for-all continued.

• Shan Heyuan told Shen Duheng that disciples from other academies had attended his successful lecture, and that his academy’s leaders had rewarded him with spirit pills.
• Shan Heyuan prepared to challenge a Talisman Academy disciple in the free-for-all, but the disciple conceded before the fight, citing admiration for Shan Heyuan’s lecture and his own low chance of winning.
• Jiang Zhi and Li Jian escorted Shan Heyuan away from the crowd, where they discussed the risks of the free-for-all and the large number of challenges facing them.
• Shan Heyuan received more than fifty challenges, but the challengers soon withdrew them all, leaving none on his communicator.
• A deacon told Shan Heyuan that the disciples withdrew their challenges out of gratitude for his selfless sharing, and Shan Heyuan questioned why his lecture had affected them so strongly.

Shan Heyuan considered a proposed Fertilizer Pill trade with Elder Qu Ying of the Sword Reverence Sect and consulted Shen Duheng, who revealed that he had once been a disciple of the sect. Shan agreed to the trade, but Elder Qu’s generous deposit and expectations left him feeling pressured to follow through.

• Li Jian suggested that contestants avoided challenging Shan Heyuan because they might need his help with Spirit Plants later.
• Elder Qu Ying of the Sword Reverence Sect asked to buy Shan Heyuan’s Fertilizer Pills through Huai Liu, and Shan requested time to consider the offer.
• Shan Heyuan consulted Shen Duheng, who said he had a grudge against one person in the sect and revealed that he had betrayed the Sword Reverence Sect and left.
• Shen Duheng advised Shan Heyuan not to join the sect, and Shan agreed to trade Fertilizer Pills for Spirit Plants after reaching the Core Formation Stage.
• Elder Qu’s disciple delivered a Nascent Soul-grade Shicang Grass seed as a deposit, but Huai Liu held it until the trade was completed.
• The disciple said Elder Qu expected Shan Heyuan to reach the Core Formation Stage within eight or ten years, leaving Shan feeling that he had to make the trade.

Shan Heyuan and Jiang Zhi entered the Sword Reverence Academy’s top-hundred final at West Mountain. After the contestants flew into the mountain range, Shan Heyuan hurried toward its tallest peak.

• Shan Heyuan returned home to find merchants crowding around him with gifts and offers for his Fertilizer Pills, but Shen Duheng sent them away.
• Shen Duheng told Shan Heyuan that he had fought 1,673 times since arriving in Sword Reverence City, explaining why the merchants respected him despite their higher cultivation.
• Shan Heyuan and Jiang Zhi both made the top hundred after the battle royale; Shan Heyuan had fought only thirteen opponents, while Jiang Zhi won 334 matches and remained wounded.
• The Sword Reverence Academy held a five-day break and began the final on West Mountain, where the host announced the rules against alliances and high-grade Law Artifacts.
• The top hundred entered the mountain range, and Shan Heyuan flew low toward its tallest mountain.

Shan Heyuan hid in the competition until Lin Ji found and eliminated him, but he still took first place in the Planting Institute. After the five-day competition ended, Shan Heyuan and Jiang Zhi received their institute prizes.

• Shan Heyuan hid beneath a patch of grass, hoping to last long enough to rank first in the Planting Institute.
• Lin Ji dug Shan Heyuan out, and Shan Heyuan tried to flee behind a cloud of smoke before Lin Ji shattered his armband with Sword Qi.
• At the mountain gate, Shan Heyuan learned he ranked forty-ninth overall and first among the Planting Institute competitors, while Jiang Zhi ranked sixty-third overall and third in their institute.
• Lin Ji won the five-day competition, Sheng Chao took second, and Shui Qingyi placed third.
• Shan Heyuan and Jiang Zhi went onstage to receive their Planting Institute prizes, including Shan Heyuan's Core Formation-grade Spring Crystal.

Shan Heyuan used powder from his Spring Crystal to make Golden Silk Dense Moss produce spirit spring water, nourishing the Spirit Plants in his Dantian and improving his cultivation. Excited to tell Shen Duheng, he rushed in while Shen was bathing, became flustered by his appearance, and got a nosebleed.

• Shan Heyuan showed Shen Duheng the Spring Crystal he had won, and they went out to celebrate with a meal.
• Shan Heyuan wondered whether Golden Silk Dense Moss could absorb Spring Crystal powder and release spirit spring water.
• Shan Heyuan successfully used the moss to produce spirit spring water, which rapidly nourished the Spirit Plants in his Dantian and strengthened his cultivation.
• Shan Heyuan rushed to tell Shen Duheng about his improvement and found him bathing.
• Shan Heyuan stared at Shen Duheng in a towel, got a nosebleed, and claimed it was a lingering injury from the competition.

Shan Heyuan considered turning his Dantian into a self-sustaining spirit plant garden and planted Xin Yellow Grass seeds inside it. Their sudden growth caused an intense, unfamiliar sensation, leaving him focused on circulating his cultivation formula.

• Shan Heyuan showed Shen Duheng how Golden Silk Dense Moss in his Dantian held Spring Crystal fragments and released spirit spring water.
• Shan Heyuan explained his plan to grow spirit plants directly from seeds in his Dantian and let them reproduce there.
• Shan Heyuan returned to the academy, then later asked Shen Duheng which spirit plant seeds he should plant; Shen Duheng chose Xin Yellow Grass.
• Shan Heyuan let his Dantian swallow the Xin Yellow Grass seeds and used Spring Breeze Turns to Rain to make them sprout in the Golden Silk Dense Moss.
• Shan Heyuan felt the roots' growth as an intense sensation in his body, sat cross-legged, and repeatedly circulated his cultivation formula.

Shan Heyuan's Dantian transformed into a small world with a more complete presence of the Heavenly Dao than the outside world, and Shen Duheng warned him to keep it secret. Shen returned with the three-thousand-year-old notes of Azure Cloud Dao Ancestor, whose cover bore simplified Chinese characters, and helped Shan Heyuan steady himself before he read them.

• The Xin Yellow Grass sprouted in Shan Heyuan's Dantian, bringing his total to six Spirit Plants as his cultivation neared Core Formation.
• Shan Heyuan sensed that his Dantian had become a small world, and Shen Duheng confirmed that it held a more complete presence of the Heavenly Dao than the dying world outside.
• Shen Duheng warned Shan Heyuan not to tell anyone about his Dantian and told him to stay home while he investigated the matter.
• Shan Heyuan waited anxiously for Shen Duheng, with no Tribulation Lightning appearing despite the extraordinary changes in his Dantian.
• Shen Duheng returned with Azure Cloud Dao Ancestor's three-thousand-year-old notes, and Shan Heyuan recognized the simplified Chinese characters on the cover.
• Shen Duheng caught Shan Heyuan's wrist and told him not to be afraid as he hesitated to touch the fragile notes.

Shan Heyuan read the Azure Cloud Dao Ancestor’s journal and learned why the cultivation world welcomed transmigrators and how powerful cultivators returned Spiritual Power to heaven and earth. The journal offered no solution to Shan Heyuan’s Dantian, whose changes had become so noticeable that he took several days off from the Sword Reverence Academy.

• Shan Heyuan confirmed that the Azure Cloud Dao Ancestor’s journal was written by someone from his own world and read entries about the Dao Ancestor’s cultivation and desire to return home.
• Shen Duheng explained that a prophecy about a cultivator from beyond the world saving it led sects to treat transmigrators well, and recounted the Azure Cloud Dao Ancestor’s unknown fate after he went beyond the domain.
• Shen Duheng told Shan Heyuan that high-level cultivators often dispersed their cultivation at the end of their lives to return Spiritual Power to the world.
• Shan Heyuan slept fitfully with the journal beside him, but its contents did not explain how to resolve his Dantian problem.
• Shan Heyuan found that his Dantian had grown and its Spiritual Power and Spirit Plants carried a strong trace of Breathing Earth, so he took several days off from the Sword Reverence Academy to avoid attracting notice.

Shan Heyuan struggled to control his presence as he approached Core Formation, so Shen Duheng sealed his Spiritual Power and took him to Fu Province during the break to seek a solution. After teleporting to Qingmian City, Shan Heyuan encountered the province’s intense heat and unfamiliar local customs.

• Shen Duheng sealed Shan Heyuan’s Spiritual Power, and they agreed to seek another solution if Shan Heyuan could not reach Core Formation.
• Jiang Zhi invited Shan Heyuan to visit his home in Ze Province, but Shen Duheng said they would first travel to Fu Province to see an old acquaintance.
• When Shan Heyuan’s break began, Shen Duheng took him through Sword Reverence City’s teleportation array to Fu Province.
• Shen Duheng explained that the array used runes to send travelers through an alternate space, and promised to find Shan Heyuan books about teleportation.
• In Qingmian City, Shan Heyuan struggled with the dry heat and stared in surprise at the locals’ clothing and appearance.

Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng reached the Duolan Inn in a new region, where Shan Heyuan enjoyed the unfamiliar sights and rested while Shen Duheng cultivated. At dusk, Shan Heyuan saw a powerful cultivator undergo a terrifying Tribulation Transcendence nearby, and the chapter ended as the lightning shook him with fear.

• Shan Heyuan chose to ride a Duo Duo Bird with Shen Duheng to the Duolan Inn, where his enthusiastic mount offered him its Spiritual Power pattern.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng checked into a shared suite because Shan Heyuan's body made it unsafe for him to be alone or use Spiritual Power.
• Shen Duheng sat down to cultivate while Shan Heyuan relaxed by the window and fell asleep.
• Shan Heyuan woke at dusk and watched blue-black tribulation clouds gather over the city, distinct from the fiery sunset clouds.
• Shan Heyuan realized a great expert above the Nascent Soul realm was undergoing Tribulation Transcendence nearby, while Shen Duheng continued cultivating.

Shan Heyuan watched Shen Duheng get caught in a devastating Heavenly Tribulation that demolished their inn room, while the lightning carefully avoided Shan Heyuan. Shen Duheng fought the increasingly powerful tribulation barehanded after his spirit swords were destroyed.

• Shan Heyuan watched cultivators try to draw down their own Heavenly Tribulations alongside a terrifying tribulation in Qingmian City.
• A bolt of Tribulation Lightning struck Shen Duheng, and successive strikes brought down the room around him and Shan Heyuan.
• Shan Heyuan sat amid the rubble as the Tribulation Lightning avoided him completely, while Shen Duheng and another cultivator underwent their tribulations nearby.
• Shen Duheng drew his spirit sword and fought the lightning as it intensified from purple to black, with both sides avoiding Shan Heyuan.
• Shen Duheng's spirit swords broke one after another, and he continued fighting the Tribulation Lightning barehanded.

Shan Heyuan gave Shen Duheng his broken sword during the lightning tribulation, then found shelter in Qingmian City's underground tunnels. There, the innkeeper explained the city's tradition of undergoing Tribulation Transcendence together, and Shan Heyuan joined the innkeeper's family in the underground hall.

• Shan Heyuan tossed his broken sword to Shen Duheng as Tribulation Lightning struck nearby, and Shen Duheng told him to find shelter outside.
• Shen Duheng's Spiritual Power lifted Shan Heyuan out of the rubble, and Shan Heyuan walked between two lightning tribulations without being struck.
• The innkeeper called Shan Heyuan into a concealed tunnel and explained that Qingmian City had reinforced its natural underground passages into a refuge.
• The innkeeper told Shan Heyuan that the city had practiced piggybacking on other cultivators' lightning tribulations for thousands of years, though the tribulations had weakened over time.
• The innkeeper shielded Shan Heyuan from probing looks as they walked to the underground hall, where Shan Heyuan met the innkeeper's family and accepted tea from their little girl.